Find Calm in Chaos
You Already Have the Tools 🧰
My blue Schwinn 10-speed bike was my savior — leaning against the garage wall, patiently waiting for me whenever she was needed. When things got harried at home or there was a little more tumult than I could handle, she was there to take me away to a place of peace and calm.
We whizzed around the lake near my childhood home — round and round and round we’d go until I found release in my body and total peace in my mind as I became fully immersed in my ride. While this new state of being was temporary, it planted the seeds of how I navigated life’s difficulties.
With my bike, I could physically and emotionally remove myself from chaos, yet as I grew up, finding an appropriate escape and reset became more challenging. I chose the wrong path many times — misdirecting my rage, overindulging in food or drink, and burying my feelings.
When I was in college, I latched on to a few people who amplified the troubled and broken parts of me. Eager to fit in, I made many poor decisions in those four years.
As I approached my last college semester, I perused the class catalog to find something ‘easy’ to round out my schedule. And there it was — jumping off the page — Beginning Yoga.
It was 1990. I didn’t even know what yoga was. But, for some reason, I was drawn to it. And it changed my life.
I remember my first class vividly; and later described it to my parents, saying “I felt both energized and calm after class ended.” I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but I knew I needed more of it in my life.
Our lives can change in an instant without us even realizing it. An intuitive, yet seemingly impulsive decision launched my journey into yoga. My blue 10-speed long forgotten, yoga has become the primary tool that brings peace and healing to my body and mind.
There is a teaching in yoga called Dharana, which means concentration. It comes from Yoga Sutra 3.1 which reads, “Fixing the consciousness on one point or region is concentration.”
You have likely had moments where you became so immersed in an activity that you lost all sense of time. A book you couldn’t put down? A knitting project that fed your soul? A recipe that had your full attention and care?
That is Dharana.
In his book Meditations from the Mat, Rolf Gates explains Dharana using a baseball metaphor, which I find helpful and perhaps you will too.
In baseball, pitchers are told, “Throw the ball, don’t aim it.” This is a good example of the difference between knowledge and the knowing that is beyond knowledge.
To aim the ball is to come from a place of knowledge, of trying to control events.
To throw the ball is to let go into the flow of the moment, to trust events and your place in them.
To aim the ball is to affirm your separateness; to throw the ball is to affirm your connectedness.
In aiming there is much mental chatter; in throwing there is no sound; there does not need to be.
The regularity of asana and meditation practice provides us with the chance to see both forms of activity for what they are.
We can think about a posture or we can embody it fully, without reservation.
We can sit in meditation at war with ourselves, trying to stay with the breath, or we can surrender and soften into stillness.
Dharana is throwing the ball.
It is the quiet that occurs when we flow into a posture or let go into meditation.
It is the mind pouring itself like water into a moment.
It is the stillness that is beyond knowledge.
Carve out time to engage in activities that will immerse you fully and where time just passes by. An activity with single-minded concentration and flow will:
Cultivate calm, not feed anxiety
Lift you up, not take you down
Energize you, not drain you
Fill your soul, not deplete it
As you navigate your own ups and downs, what captures your attention so much that you lose track of time — and leaves you feeling calm, yet energized?
The quiet within the flow of life is where the true gems lie. Within such an experience, we can let go and be fully aware — not of the world around us — but of the world within us.
It’s here where we come to understand who we are so that we can move forward with decisions that are in alignment with our true sense of self.
I’d love to hear from you! As you think about your own life, when have you experienced Dharana (total concentration)? How did it make you feel?
Have you downloaded the Substack app?
I just reorganized my Substack site so it’s easier to navigate — find quotes, meditations, a few of my favorite things, and an archive of wednesday Wisdom and simple Joys newsletters.
Plus, find other incredible writers on Substack from NYT bestselling authors to everyday people who represent the goodness in humanity.
Here are a few I am following:
A Word About Notes
Notes is Substack’s version of social media, but waaaaaay better. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know of my aversion to social media. I rarely post on Instagram or Facebook. But, I do post on Notes! You can find a tab on my site with my Notes and all the ones that I thought were worthy of a restack. In Notes you will find many great thinkers and writers to learn and be inspired from. Check out Notes! I’d love to connect with you there!
Thanks so much for reading and for your support and interest in the Life within. Feel free to reach out anytime with questions, comments, or requests.
Warmest regards,
Bridget 😊
Needed this today! 🫶🏻